 |  |
From NEHJ: Pandolfo starts over with Islanders
For his first 14 years as a pro hockey player, the New Jersey
Devils were the only NHL team Jay Pandolfo knew. The veteran
forward and Burlington, Mass., native played a key role in the
team’s Stanley Cup victories in 2000 and 2003 and fully
expected to retire as a member of the organization.
But things changed in the final two seasons. Pandolfo witnessed
his playing time diminish and no longer foresaw himself playing an
important role. In the summer of 2010, he asked longtime general
manager Lou Lamoriello (Providence, R.I.) to buy him out of his
contract and give him a shot at seeking opportunities
elsewhere.
After the start of the season came and went, Pandolfo remained an
unrestricted free agent waiting for a phone call. He wound up
joining the AHL’s Springfield Falcons in December, but when
odds of a call-up to the Blue Jackets seemed slim at best, he
pulled the plug on the experiment.
“I just went there to basically get playing time. It was my
decision to leave,” Pandolfo said. “I played 10 or 12
games. Columbus wasn’t going to bring me up, and I
wasn’t getting a whole lot of interest from teams at the
time. I just wanted to get back to the NHL.”
At that point, however, the former Boston University standout
wasn’t sure he still had the skill or the motivation to get
back to the sport’s highest level.
“When I stopped playing in December, I just took some time
off,” Pandolfo said. “I watched a lot of the playoffs
and stuff like that. I just kind of felt like I still had a little
something left and I still wanted to play. I started working out
again and started skating a little bit to see how I felt. My body
felt pretty good, so I figured I’d just start training again
and see what happened.”
Nine months removed from his last taste of action, Pandolfo agreed
to a tryout with the New York Islanders in early September.
“To be honest, all I was really asking for was a
chance,” he said. “The Islanders and Garth Snow
(Wrentham, Mass.) gave me that opportunity. I was just going to try
to make the best of it. Obviously it worked out and I’m real
happy about it, but if it didn’t, I would’ve been fine
with that, too. I tried to not put too much pressure on myself. I
figured I’d go in there, do the best I can and see what
happens.”
On the eve of the start of the 2011-12 season, Pandolfo’s
last hurrah was worth the effort, as New York signed him to a
one-year deal with a base salary of $600,000 that could reach as
high as $1.4 million based on performance bonuses.
Though aided by the presence of former New Jersey teammates Mike
Mottau (Avon, Mass.) and Brian Rolston, the 36-year-old forward had
to go through the unfamiliar process of becoming acclimated with a
new team.
“It’s just a different organization. I’ve never
played anywhere else,” Pandolfo said. “Obviously, the
goal here is to start being a team that can make the playoffs every
year and do some damage. We have a really good group of young guys.
It’s just trying to get these guys to do everything it takes
to win. The organization is doing everything to help these guys get
to that position. It’s been really good, and I’ve been
really impressed by the organization.”
The feeling certainly seems to be mutual, as the reliable winger
dressed in each of the team’s first 18 games of the season.
On Nov. 17, Pandolfo found the back of the net and recorded his
first point as a member of the Islanders in a 4-3 win over the
Canadiens. The 6-foot-1 forward was named the first star of the
game, as the tally was No. 100 of his NHL career.
“When it takes you that long to get to 100, it’s not
something I was really thinking about,” a chuckling Pandolfo
said. “It’s nice, but to be honest with you, scoring
goals has not been my thing over my career. It’s not a huge
deal.”
Instead, his focus is solely on the team’s overall success,
as the veteran of 131 playoff games is doing his best to make sure
the young Isles stay in postseason contention.
“We got off to a good start right away and then we kind of
stumbled,” said Pandolfo, as New York followed up a 3-1-0
start by winning just two of its next 13 games. “We’ve
played pretty good, but we’ve been finding ways to lose games
and not win them. We just have to do the little things a little
better and we’re going to win a lot more games.
“It’s still early in the year and we can still end up
giving ourselves a chance to make the playoffs. As a veteran guy, I
just try to go out there and do all the little things right all the
time with killing penalties and things like that.”
Pandolfo certainly hasn’t been a stranger to offensive
success throughout his career, as his six playoff goals ranked
third on the champion Devils in 2003, but the former Terrier has
long known his role has been just that: taking care of the little
things. Merely having a chance to keep doing it and playing the
game he loves for a living is something he doesn’t take for
granted, as Pandolfo knows his days in the league won’t last
forever.
“I’m taking it a day at a time at this point,”
he said when asked about potentially returning for another season
next year. “I’m not even looking past tomorrow, to be
honest with you.”
This article originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of
New England Hockey Journal.
Jesse Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@hockeyjournal.com
